Samaritas Senior Living Saginaw, 3200 State, is being sold to Preferred Care Michigan, with a May 1 target to complete the exchange.
This is part of a plan by 89-year-old Samaritas, former Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, to address ongoing budget challenges by seeking qualified purchasers for its five senior area facilities. Saginaw is joined by Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Cadillac and Bloomfield Hills.
“Our mission remains the same: We will continue to serve vulnerable populations, but we also understand the need to strategically review our mission to best meet evolving needs in Michigan,” said Dave Morin, Samaritas interim CEO, in a news release.
“The senior housing industry is fast-changing, and in order to best serve our residents and staff, we determined that the sale of this business sector will allow these communities to continue to thrive while enabling Samaritas to deepen its focus on creating a meaningful quality of life for Michigan children and families, building stronger communities, designing innovative programming, reinvesting in mission and staff, and fostering population growth as a result through its continuum of services.
Morin continued, “We have found an ideal partner in Preferred Care Michigan, who has expressed interest in maintaining the exceptional staff at the Saginaw facility, and we remain confident in their ability to provide the high quality of care our residents deserve. We are committed to finding similar partners for our other four senior living communities across the state.”
Samartis, similar to most charity endeavors, was facing financial challenges even prior to COVID-19 arriving. Three years ago, Neighborhood House was sold for $50,000 to a South Side group that has started a revival of the long-time community center.
Lansing-based Preferred Care Michigan owns and operates seven facilities serving seniors.
“Preferred Care is excited to be partnering with Samaritas in serving our senior population and looking forward to expanding our service into more areas of the Saginaw community,” said Preferred Care Michigan CEO Yoni Klein.
Samaritas’ mission remains focused on its Child & Family Services line of programming, helping some of the most vulnerable populations in our state. These include foster and adopted children; refugees, including unaccompanied refugee minors; families in crisis who need assistance through the organization’s family preservation programs; persons with substance use disorders; homeless families; seniors and families who need affordable housing; and persons with disabilities who need affordable housing or in-home care.
“Our shared mission to serve others as an expression of the love of Christ is unchanged,” said Morin. “These strategic organizational changes will only enhance our Child & Family Services offerings as we expand and improve these service lines, ensuring that these vulnerable groups receive the quality of care they deserve.”
Samaritas described itself as “sending ripples of positive change into Michigan communities since 1934. It is one of Michigan’s largest faith-based, nonprofit health and human services agencies and serves over 14,000 people annually statewide.”
Visit samaritas.org or their Facebook page for more information.
